The term “instant messaging (IM)” refers to any kind of exchange of messages over the Internet. For example, such message can comprise text, pictures, movies, etc. These exchanges can be managed by various types of protocols, such as “Internet Relay Chat” (IRC), AOL® instant Messenger (AIM), Adium, Facebook® chat, etc.
The term “dedicated application” refers to any kind of software application that provides instant messaging features. For example, an application can be a mobile app such as BBM®, Libon®, Skype®, Kik®, etc. This application can also be a computer software (such as Microsoft® Messenger, Skype®, etc.).
A widespread method to exchange messages over the internet requires users to download dedicated applications and to create subscriber accounts. Once the application is downloaded and installed, users log in the application using the subscriber account. A list of contacts is then displayed and the user can start exchanging messages with these contacts. These contacts refer to other users that have also downloaded the application and created a subscriber account.
Therefore, with this method, two users wishing to exchange messages need to download the same application. However, several applications are proposed on the Internet. Thus, the user can have friends using different applications and therefore needs to download several applications to be able to exchange messages with all his friends. Downloading several applications is not convenient for the user as it is time consuming and as it requires a lot of memory space in the user's device.
Applications embedded in browsers have been proposed to free users from downloading applications.
However, such web applications still require users to be logged with a subscriber account. Thus, a first user logged with a subscriber account can't directly communicate with a second user who has no subscriber account. In this case, the first user has to send a message, using a conventional mean such as short message service (SMS) or email, to ask the second user to create a subscriber account. Creating a subscriber account is long and inconvenient for the second user, especially when he is using a mobile device. Indeed, mobile devices can have small screens and inconstant network connection, which makes it particularly hard to fill a form in order to create a subscriber account.